Last week wasn’t the first time Alameda fire Chief David Kapler faced allegations he misused fire department resources. Kapler was accused of misusing his department vehicle when he was chief of another fire department nearly two decades ago, one of a host of allegations that ultimately led to his resignation from that job.

He resigned as chief of the Tahoe-Douglas Fire Protection District in 1991 after the allegations surfaced that he misused a department-owned vehicle.

Two developers also accused Kapler of soliciting contributions in exchange for the right to build, and he came under fire for soliciting ski passes, a mountain bike, vacations and other contributions for a program to curb fire department absenteeism, newspaper articles written at the time reported.

Kapler said he﻿ was cleared of all wrongdoing in connection with the allegations in Tahoe. He also said his Tahoe-Douglas contract allowed him to take a district vehicle for personal use.

“The district attorney looked into it and said there wasn’t any basis to any of the complaints out there,” Kapler said. “There was a lack of clear communication with the (fire district) board, but no evidence of any wrongdoing.”

Kapler is currently under scrutiny as Alameda fire chief for using city gas pumps to fuel his personal vehicles — something he says his contract allows under a “verbal agreement” that he made with a former city manager.

“The very least I want is an investigation,” Tam said. “I don’t want to jump to conclusions. But these are very serious allegations.”

The issue will come before the council Sept. 7, Johnson said.

Kapler came under fire here earlier this month when a photograph emerged that showed him fueling a blue BMW coupe at the department’s gas pumps.

Interim City Manager Ann Marier Gallant said the verbal agreement that Kapler claims he made with former City Manager Debra Kurita only extended to a Honda Ridgeline truck the city outfitted for his official use.

Gallant called the conflicting stories on the verbal agreement a “miscommunication,” and she pledged to make Kapler pay for any gas he used inappropriately.

She said she would look into creating standard employment agreements for top city executives, and that an audit of city fuel use was now under way.

But that’s not enough for Johnson, who said she thinks Kapler has set a bad example for other city workers.

Johnson is also angry that a possible verbal agreement was part of his contract without the council’s consent.

“To be filling a personal vehicle at a city station is wrong,” Johnson said.

According to reports in the Tahoe Daily Tribune, Kapler came under scrutiny in Tahoe after his work vehicle was spotted parked in the red zone at a Reno mall. At the time, Kapler said his contract permitted him to use it for personal business.

News reports also said representatives from the Lake Tahoe Horizon Casino/Resort accused Kapler of requesting a fire hose that would cost up to $60,000 in exchange for his support to change a county ordinance that would have required them to put sprinklers in their parking garage.

Representatives of “The Ridge Tahoe” condominium project also claimed Kapler requested $50,000 in cash in exchange for the right to do more building, according to the reports.

Kapler told the paper at the time that there was no connection between the alleged gift requests and the variances the developer and the casino owner wanted. He said the developer misinterpreted his request for cash, which he said was a “mitigation fee” to address access problems at the site.

The fire hose would have been installed instead of a sprinkler system at the casino’s planned garage, Kapler said.

After the allegations in Tahoe emerged, the governing board overseeing the fire department placed Kapler on probation and then administrative leave before he resigned.

Kapler attributed the current allegations in Alameda to anger stemming from actions he has taken as chief.

“When you’re a fire chief, sometimes not everybody’s going to like you. They’re not going to like the decisions you make, (or) what you have to work with,” Kapler said. “So this is how they take their frustrations out.”

Alameda’s firefighters took﻿ a vote of “no confidence” in Kapler in June 2009, saying he wasn’t doing enough to maintain a safe level of staffing. Firefighters and top city officials also have battled over pay, benefits and staffing.

“I feel like the actions of the chief here, and now this history of similar allegations against him have given the Alameda Fire Department a black eye,” said Domenick Weaver, president of Alameda’s firefighters union. “I just hope that the community realizes that this is related to the chief as an individual, and is not a reflection of the hard working men and women of the fire department, and the dedication of their lives to this community.”